A Letter from one of our Senior Citizens

More nostalgia and a well remembered look at the prices of yester-year

4, All Saints Place

Wretton

Dear Editor,

The article from Ron Watts in the April Pump - Shopping in the 1930's - prompted me to dig out my old grocery books. I don't remember much of the 30's but a lot of what he said was certainly true of shops everywhere in the 1940's. Also, grocery vans used to come round selling most things.

One of my main memories is of my late mother cycling to Downham Market to get the wireless accumulator charged. She was always having to patch her homemade bags as the acid would leak from the accumulator and burn holes in them.

I also remember she used to get a large block of salt which she would slice in two and then we would rub the two pieces together until we had ground it down to useable granules. She also used to make lovely boiled suet puddings in a cloth; we ate it hot or cold either covered with gravy or golden syrup! I can still taste those suet lumps now; there was none of this shredded stuff you buy today. I still make a corned beef and onion suet pudding (in a cloth); in fact we had one only last week

But to get back to my grocery books, I have sorted out a few items to show you how prices have changed over the years:

1971 - 72 1981 - 82 1991 - 92

1 dozen eggs 23p 1/2 lb butter 48p 1/2 lb butter 60p

3 lb flour 16p 3 lb flour 37p 3 lb flour 48p

6 lb sugar 27p 2 lb sugar 46p 4 lb sugar £1.32p

Large cornflakes 14p Large Cornflakes 70p

2 tins soup 15p

1 1/2 lb sausages 30p

1 lb cheese 29 1/2p 2 loaves £1.40p

(The baker stopped deliveries to the house)

The only thing that hasn't changed much is eggs! I can still get good eggs for 95p per dozen.

Yours sincerely,

Rosie Watson